Record · Enforcement
Administrative Order (Findings of Violations, Order for Compliance and Request for Information) with associated correspondence
edoc-3957823
Fields
agency
U.S. EPA, Region 5
instrument
Administrative Order (Findings of Violations, Order for Compliance and Request for Information) with associated correspondence
case_no
V-W-05-AO-08
respondent
City of Lima, Ohio
facility
City of Lima POTW, 1200 Fort Amanda Road, Lima, Ohio; 120 miles separate sewers, 204 miles combined sewers
permit_no
OH0026069
issued_date
2005-02-07
effective_date
2005-02-07
supersedes
—
penalty_usd
—
stipulated_penalties
Not specified in the Order; failure to comply may subject City to further enforcement action under 33 U.S.C. § 1319
status
active
summary
U.S. EPA Region 5 issued an Administrative Order on February 7, 2005 to the City of Lima, Ohio under CWA Sections 308 and 309(a), finding violations of NPDES Permit No. OH0026069 due to 36+ sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) discharge points discharging untreated sewage to the Ottawa River. The Order required the City to certify compliance, immediately cease SSOs, submit a Sanitary Sewer Overflow Elimination Plan (SSOEP) within 30 days, implement it within 180 days, and begin monthly SSO sampling and Compliance Progress Reports. The City, through counsel (Schottenstein, Zox & Dunn), responded that it could not meet the deadlines, anticipated completing the SSOEP by approximately June 20, 2005, and proposed negotiating a Consent Order in lieu of accepting the administrative order as issued.
note
The file contains: (1) the Feb. 7, 2005 U.S. EPA Administrative Order; (2) the City's Feb. 18, 2005 response letter rejecting the Order and proposing a Consent Order; (3) the City's March 11, 2005 status letter to Nicole Cantello (U.S. EPA ORC) reporting inability to meet SSOEP deadline and beginning SSO sampling; and (4) a Lima News article describing potential $147 million cost and 83% sewer rate increase. The permit expiration date is March 31, 2007. The 30-day SSOEP deadline computed from Feb. 7, 2005 receipt is approximately March 9, 2005; the 180-day implementation deadline is approximately August 5, 2005.
obligations
- requirement Submit written certification of intent to comply with the Order
- deadline within 15 days of RECEIPT (receipt date not confirmed in the record; ~2005-02-22 if received on the 2005-02-07 issue date)
- status City indicated via Feb 18, 2005 letter it could not accept the Order as proposed and sought to negotiate a Consent Order instead
- requirement Immediately cease and desist all SSOs from all discharge points in the sanitary sewer system
- deadline —
- status Not met — City acknowledged inability to immediately comply
- requirement Submit detailed written Sanitary Sewer Overflow Elimination Plan (SSOEP) for U.S. EPA approval
- deadline within 30 days of RECEIPT (receipt date not confirmed; ~2005-03-09 if received on the 2005-02-07 issue date)
- status Missed — City's March 11, 2005 letter states SSOEP not anticipated to be completed until approximately June 20, 2005
- requirement Implement the SSOEP
- deadline within 180 days of RECEIPT (receipt date not confirmed; ~2005-08-05 if received on the 2005-02-07 issue date)
- status Pending SSOEP completion
- requirement Begin sampling SSO discharge points for fecal coliform, e-coli, and ammonia
- deadline within 30 days of RECEIPT (receipt date not confirmed; ~2005-03-09 if received on the 2005-02-07 issue date)
- status In progress — City's March 11, 2005 letter states sampling of representative SSOs to begin that month
- requirement Submit monthly Compliance Progress Reports (CPR) including SSO sampling data, descriptions of actions taken, daily rainfall data, and copy of DMR
- deadline —
- status Ongoing — City committed to submitting CPRs as sampling data is collected
⚠ Gaps in the record
- DEADLINES ARE RELATIVE, NOT FIXED. The Order runs its clocks from RECEIPT, and the City's receipt date is nowhere in this record. The three deadlines are stated in the Order's own terms with a ~-marked estimate computed off the 2005-02-07 issue date, rather than published as ISO dates that would read as established fact. The STATUSES are a different matter and stand: each is sourced to the City's own 2005-02-18 and 2005-03-11 letters in this same bundle.
- OCR layer contained garbled text on several fields (dates, docket number); values verified against page image.
- Docket number rendered as 'V-W- ÔS #°— Ô~' in OCR on order page but clearly reads V-W-05-AO-08 on the cover letter and order header.
- No civil penalty assessed in this Order; enforcement action threatened for non-compliance.
Where it connects
oepa/lima/edoc-3957823.order.yaml · p.1 · oepa